


Elysium

by DiamondWings



Category: VIXX
Genre: Character deaths but not really deaths bc they just take a trip to the underworld, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Inspired by the tale of Orpheus, M/M, Multi, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 11:48:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11252550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondWings/pseuds/DiamondWings
Summary: A tale of the complications of finding your one true love when the gods insist to meddle in the affairs of humans, and the unlikely places a murderer can end up in.





	Elysium

No one could compare to Taekwoon when he sang. When his soft voice rung out in singing, everyone around him forgot what they were doing, pausing their chores to listen to the sweet tones. Hundreds gathered to listen to him in reverent silence and no one dared to interrupt him, ever. It was rumoured that even the wild animals from the forests forgot about their fears and hostilities towards each other and came out to listen to him, while the birds silenced their melodies hoping to learn from him.

His singing was all Taekwoon cared about, and he would have been happy if that was all he could do in life. His family, however, didn't agree with him. Ever since he'd reached adulthood his parents had been bugging him to find a suitable woman and get married, start his own family.

Taekwoon couldn't care less about getting married, but he understood his parents' wish, and loving them dearly he set out to find a woman to wed that would suit their tastes.

As soon as word got out that the god-like singer was looking into finding a wife, hundreds of families begged to introduce their unwed daughters to him, and many a married woman tried their luck as well.

Taekwoon was overwhelmed by the amount of women he had to choose from, but all too soon he realized none of the ladies actually cared about him as a person, instead only about hearing him sing. Despite his initial resolution to try and find a woman that would suit his parents' taste, he couldn't warm up to the idea to marry a woman who didn't care about him as a person, at all.

"I've always seen my voice as a gift from the gods, but now it would seem it is more of a curse!" he complained to the bar tender in the up-scale hotel bar near his parents' house after yet another disastrous encounter. He hadn't known if the man truly cared about what he had to say at first, but at least he listened, and more often than not offered valuable advice, rapidly becoming a valuable friend.

The tan man set down the towel he'd been polishing cups with and leaned over the counter, covering Taekwoon's hand with his and squeezing it comfortingly.

"You'll find the one who cares about you more than your singing, Taekwoon. Maybe you're just looking in the wrong place..."

Taekwoon lifted his head from where it had fallen onto his arm on the counter, intrigued.

"How do you mean...?"

The bar tender, Hakyeon, crossed his arms in front of him on the counter and leaned against it opposite of Taekwoon.

"You've been meeting all these women who've been brought to your doorstep by their families, their parents basically shoving them at you and even offering gifts for you to choose them. Some of them don't even know your name! It is obvious that those are only out for the prestige it would be to be married to you. I'm sure you won't find the one that you are looking for among those that throw themselves at you like that. You need to look out for the ones that don't come running as soon as you open your mouth."

Taekwoon sighed, dropping his head back to the counter.

"There are none like that..." he muttered dejectedly.

Hakyeon watched the slumped form in front of him sadly. From anyone else, that statement would have been arrogant, but from Taekwoon... it was the sad truth.

"Maybe not here... But if you looked elsewhere, where your singing isn't as famous..."

Taekwoon looked up again, his eyes glazing over from one too many glasses of wine he'd downed in an attempt to drown his sorrows.

"I can't see that working. Even if I find someone who's interested in me without knowing my singing, they will change as soon as they hear me sing. I don't want to have to give up singing to find someone who cares about me!"

A single tear slid down the weary man's face and he quickly hid his face again.

Hakyeon sighed, taking off his apron and rounding the counter to come to a halt next to Taekwoon, rubbing his shoulder comfortingly.

"I'm not saying it will be easy, but you won't know without trying. Come on, you're drunk, I'll help you home."

Taekwoon pouted but slid off the stool, leaning heavily against Hakyeon since the excess wine had him unsteady on his feet. He stumbled more than once on the short way home, but Hakyeon made sure he didn't fall even as they climbed the stairs to his front door and knocked. As they could hear steps approaching from the other side, Taekwoon suddenly turned in Hakyeon's hold, hugging him close as he leaned all of his weight against him.

"You are the only one aside from my family who ever gave a damn about me, Hakyeon. For that, I love you."

Hakyeon's heart lurched painfully, knowing Taekwoon could never mean those words the way he longed for him to mean them, and he would never have said them if he was sober. Still, he hugged the younger back, selfishly savouring the moment he knew couldn't last and wouldn't come again.

"Of course I care about you, Taekwoon... How could I not?!"

He never knew if Taekwoon heard his words as the door opened in that moment and he had to focus on transferring a now half asleep Taekwoon into the appearing butler's arms.

*#*#*#*

Despite Hakyeon's advice, Taekwoon continued to meet families with their daughters at the hotel, and with every day that passed, Hakyeon could see the once happy and carefree singer become bitterer. A small selfish part of him was glad Taekwoon hadn't left to find a wife elsewhere, but the part that cared about the younger ached and wanted nothing but for him to find happiness, even if far away from there.

It was still early when Taekwoon came in that morning, and instead of making his way over to the group of people waiting for him, he made a beeline straight to the counter.

"Give me some wine, Hakyeon. A strong one. I won't be able to stand these meetings sober."

Hakyeon pursed his lips.

"Have you even eaten yet? You shouldn't be drinking this early, never mind getting drunk!"

Taekwoon only shrugged, his look darkening.

"Who cares, anyway?"

Hakyeon stemmed his hands into his hips, glaring indignantly at Taekwoon.

"For the record, I do! If I am to give you wine at this hour, you'll have to eat a breakfast first!"

Taekwoon's look softened, and Hakyeon could have imagined it, but it looked like tears were forming in his eyes. Defeated, he sat down in his usual stool, ready to wait.

"Fine... Oh Hakyeon, why couldn't you have been born as a woman..." He sighed while Hakyeon turned away to get him breakfast.

Hakyeon himself could barely hold back a sob, but he definitely couldn't hold back the tears as he turned away from Taekwoon. Yes, why! Why couldn't he have been born as a woman!

He took more time than usual to prepare something for breakfast for Taekwoon, but he needed the time to recompose himself before he returned.

Taekwoon thanked him for the breakfast with a smile that wanted but couldn't reach his sad eyes anymore, desperately downing the wine Hakyeon handed him as soon as he'd finished eating. After refilling his glass, Taekwoon slid off the stool with a weary sigh and made his way to where the first family ready to throw their daughters at him waited.

It was about the fifth (or was it the sixth?!) family Taekwoon met that day when he started to feel sick. The woman laid down hard with all the charms she had, but Taekwoon couldn't help but see her as yet another colourless being who had no real interest in him. And still, he tried his best to stay polite, even though his mind was blurring heavily from the wine he'd been drinking all day... And that even though he was sure Hakyeon had started watering it down significantly after his third cup...

 

It reached a point, however, where he feared he might lose control over his stomach, and had to excuse himself. As he got up, though, he froze. Something on the bench next to the woman who'd been flirting heavily with him caught his eye: It was a small vial, heart-shaped with intricate silver vines decorating it, and a little rest of a red, glowing substance at the bottom... His heart almost stopped as dread consumed him and his eyes flitted to his almost empty wine glass; why hadn't he noticed the slight eerie glow coming from his wine before?!

"No...!" he panted, the world starting to spin around him. "NO!" He yelled as the meaning sunk in, not wanting to believe that this was happening to him, that that horrible wench had slipped a love potion into his wine! There was nothing he could do though, and the last thing he saw before everything went dark around him and he crashed to the floor was the woman's triumphant smirk.

*#*#*#*

Taekwoon's shout and the heavy thud of his body hitting the floor caught Hakyeon's attention, and before he knew what he was doing he'd sprinted around the counter and was rushing to his side. He was greeted by the sight of Taekwoon's unconscious form on the floor, and worry overwhelmed him. It didn't occur to him that the family he'd been sitting with were way too calm about his fainting until way later as his main priority was making sure the younger man was alright, and it was also only way later, after he'd excused Taekwoon and himself and had gotten him into a back room, that he realized Taekwoon couldn't be drunk enough to a point where he lost consciousness; he'd personally made sure of it!

He hovered near the door to the backroom whenever he didn't have a customer to serve, and he couldn't wait until his shift was over. He still had time left to work when Taekwoon stirred awake, but he didn't care as he rushed to his side.

Taekwoon had to fight hard against the fog lingering around his mind to wake up, and a raging headache made him doubt if it was worth it.

"Taekwoon, can you hear me? You need to wake up. Come one, Taekwoon, wake up, you've been unconscious for way too long..." A soothing but urgent voice lured him, and Taekwoon renewed the fight to wake up.

Eventually, his eyes fluttered open, focusing on the man kneeling beside him. It took him a moment to recognize him, to remember the dark warm eyes that looked down at him with worry from a beautifully tanned face. As more and more details he remembered from Hakyeon filtered back into his aching brain, the more anxious he felt. It was as if there was something he was missing, something he knew should be there that wasn't, an emptiness in his heart that ached the more aware he became of it.

He couldn't stand it any longer and looked away.

"Taekwoon, are you alright? Are you hurt? What happened over there?"

Taekwoon frowned. Why would he be hurt? What happened where?!

"W- what?"

"You were sitting with the family of that red-head when suddenly you shouted and then fainted. What was going on?"

Taekwoon frowned harder, his head hurting more with every word Hakyeon said.

"I... don't know. I don't know any red-heads... I shouted? I don't remember... Why am I here?"

Hakyeon was confused.

"You were trying to get to know potential candidates for the position of your wife, remember? You've been meeting family after family all day, and then something happened and you fainted."

Taekwoon's head was aching fiercely now and he shook it as if that could lessen the pain.

"I don't remember... I don't want to remember. It hurts. Take me home."

Hakyeon was taken aback by Taekwoon's words, but he figured it was probably for the best to heed his wishes. He closed up quickly before coming back to help Taekwoon up and home. He'd gotten quite routined with it, since he'd been doing that pretty much every day since the first time Taekwoon had been too drunk to go home on his own.

*#*#*#*

Taekwoon didn't come back to the hotel bar the day after, nor the day after that one, and in the end a week passed until Hakyeon met Taekwoon again, out in the city.

"Taekwoon! Hey! I haven't see you all week, how are you?"

Taekwoon turned slowly, and Hakyeon's eyes widened in surprise. That wasn't the Taekwoon he knew! Neither the carefree youth that spent his days singing, nor the increasingly bitter man who was giving up on ever finding someone who cared for him. Before him was a shell of the man he called his friend, his eyes glazed over as he stared as if unseeing, looking like someone who hadn't slept in a week as a soul deep pain ate at them. It took him ages, or so it felt, until he recognized Hakyeon and pain flashed in his eyes as the glaze receded for a second. He didn't meet Hakyeon's eyes again, keeping them trained everywhere else but him as he answered.

"I'm fine. More than fine. I've found her, the one I was looking for... We're getting married in two weeks."

Hakyeon gasped in shock.

"You did?! When?! How?! Who is she?"

"She was there, one morning when I woke up, eating breakfast with my mother. It was love at first sight. She is wonderful..."

Hakyeon was dying inside. He knew Taekwoon would find someone he would want to marry someday, and he wanted him to be happy, but he didn't expect it to hurt that bad.

"Oh... I... I'm happy for you, I really am. I hope she cares for you like you deserve it, Taekwoon. That she makes you happy."

Taekwoon nodded, still without looking at Hakyeon.

"She does. You should meet her. She and her family are staying at our house, since she isn't from here. Why don't you come over for dinner?"

Hakyeon knew it wasn't a good idea, knew he should decline and save himself the pain, but he couldn't when Taekwoon's eyes met his again for the first time since he'd averted them and he saw the pleading look in them.

"I would love to. I guess I'll see you tonight, then?"

Taekwoon nodded, attempting a smile, but it didn't come anywhere close to the smiles Hakyeon knew from him.

Hakyeon said his good-byes quickly, all but running home and only stopping when the door closed hind him, finally allowing the tears to spring free.

He cried for what felt like hours before he could recompose himself, wash up and restore his appearance, since it was getting close to the time he should be at Taekwoon's for dinner.

*#*#*#*

The first impression he had as he was led into the dining room was that it was loud.

He frowned. Taekwoon hated it when it was loud! And yet he was sitting there, at the table with his future wife and her family, staring at her as if she was his entire world.

Hakyeon wanted to retch, immediately hating himself for that feeling and reminding himself that he should be happy for his friend.

"Ah, Hakyeon! Taekwoon mentioned he'd invited a friend to dinner; I didn't know it was you!" Taekwoon's father greeted, getting up from the table to welcome Hakyeon.

Taekwoon himself, however, didn't budge, not even when his father cleared his throat or his mother elbowed him in the side. With an apologetical smile, Taekwoon's father closed the distance between them, greeting Hakyeon.

"I apologize for my son. You know he isn't usually like this, but ever since he's met Elaphe he only has eyes for her, nothing else matters to him! I know, this is surprising for us, too! Young love, huh?" He added when he saw Hakyeon's incredulous face, chuckling awkwardly. Hakyeon almost choked on his supposedly light-hearted reply before he followed Taekwoon's father to the table.

Even when he sat down, Taekwoon still didn't take notice of him, but Hakyeon finally saw what -or rather, who- held Taekwoon's attention so captivated.

A voluptuous woman sat across the table from Taekwoon, laughing loudly at something another woman -her sister, by the looks of it- had said, slamming her hand on the table as she laughed on and startling the other occupants of the latter. All of them but one, that was, since Taekwoon didn't look fazed at all.

Hakyeon frowned, and his frown didn't lessen throughout dinner as Taekwoon still didn't acknowledge his presence, or anyone else's, really, staring at his Elaphe as if enchanted the whole time. He barely ate, too, shoving at the food on his plate at best, but hardly ever did a morsel of the food make it up to and past his lips.

Hakyeon's appetite wasn't the best, either, and the reason was to be found in the same person that had Taekwoon distracted, though it was quite different. It wasn't just pure jealousy that had Hakyeon pick at his food as if it was dirt, even though it would have been enough to dry his mouth, but more the behaviour of the woman across from Taekwoon.

Hakyeon asked himself repeatedly if he was being unfair to her because of his own feelings, but a look at Taekwoon's parents and sisters told him he wasn't alone in his judgement. Taekwoon's crush wasn't just loud, she was also loud while she was eating, food dribbling out of her mouth as she talked on while shoving her face, burping like a sailor in between, wine running down her chin while she consumed more of it than she could handle, and as time progressed, her expressions becoming more and more vulgar.

It reached a point where Taekwoon's mother excused herself, visibly upset as she left the table, and Hakyeon followed her shortly after, unable to stand Taekwoon ignoring his presence any longer while instead staring at the woman that could only be described as horrible as if she was the human incarnation of Aphrodite herself.

He leaned heavily against the balcony overlooking the moon-lit backyard, taking deep breaths of the night air and trying to forget the shrill laughs of possibly the most horrible person he'd ever met. He couldn't believe Taekwoon had fallen for someone like her! What did she have that he won Taekwoon's heart that fast?! He couldn't fathom it.

"It's unbelievable, isn't it?"

A frail voice sounded beside him, and when he lifted his head he found Taekwoon's mother standing next to him, her eyes not wavering from the scenery of the backyard as she spoke.

"I can't believe what my eyes are seeing in there, and yet I have to watch it again and again, every day. I know I shouldn't speak ill of my future daughter-in-law, but never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that our Taekwoon would choose someone... someone like her. I've been wondering if he's only pretending, punishing us for pushing him too much to choose a wife, but I can't believe it... It isn't like him! Nothing he's doing is like him anymore!"

She finally turned to Hakyeon, looking up at him with desperation in her eyes.

"Did anything happen while he was at the hotel? Ever since you brought him home the last time he hasn't been the same. He went straight to bed, and when he came down the next morning, just as I was shooing these... people out, he just looked at Elaphe once, then came running and proposed to her on the spot! He'd never even seen her before then!"

Hakyeon was speechless, but he could only shake his head.

"Just what I told you already. That he fainted while meeting up with one of the potential brides, and since then... He wasn't himself that evening, and since then I hadn't seen him again until today."

Taekwoon's mother shook her head sadly.

"The gods may help us if Taekwoon really goes through with this..."

*#*#*#*

Sleep evaded Taekwoon once more, just like every other night for the past week. The hollow emptiness inside him hurt more that night than the ones before, and he didn't understand why. It never left, not even during the day, but at least when he was with Elaphe he forgot about it...

Elaphe, who made him feel at least a semblance of whole where his heart felt like it was dying...

But tonight, it hadn't worked.

Hakyeon had been there, but he couldn't look at him. The emptiness inside him screamed when he looked at him, screamed to be filled, that the missing piece was right there, hurting so bad he choked on the pain, but he couldn't find it. He didn't understand what it was trying to tell him, and it hurt less to just forget and focus on Elaphe instead, pretending his heart was whole and nothing was missing.

Just as Hakyeon had been about to leave, though, something had made him get up and stop him. He couldn't let Hakyeon leave just like that, no matter how much seeing him hurt... And then when he'd been alone with him it didn't hurt; for a small moment, the emptiness didn't claw at his chest, begging to be filled as his eyes met Hakyeon's hopeful ones.

But there was sadness in Hakyeon's eyes, so much sadness, and he didn't understand why...

He'd asked Hakyeon to be his best man, to help him with the wedding, and for a moment he'd feared he would decline. He'd hoped the offer would make Hakyeon happy, erase the sadness from his eyes, but it had only made it worse.

'Of course it did, you moron!' a voice shouted somewhere in his head, but he didn't understand it, couldn't figure out why his offer of course would sadden Hakyeon even more.

Then Hakyeon had turned away and left, and the emptiness in his chest returned. He watched him leave, despite the pain it caused him, and then Elaphe stepped in front of him. Only that time, focusing on her didn't soothe his empty heart. The pain increased hundredfold and with a silent cry the world had gone black around him once more.

He'd woken up in his bed, with his mother at his side, telling him Elaphe wasn't amused that he'd asked Hakyeon to be his best man, never mind to help prepare the wedding.

The news almost made him get up and run to find Hakyeon to apologize but tell him he changed his mind, but something, probably the same voice that called him a moron, made him stop. He wanted Hakyeon there, no matter how much it hurt, and in this he wouldn't give in to Elaphe. He'd rather endure pain a thousand times worse than before over not having him there. Why, he didn't know. He knew it was foolish, he knew it wasn't normal to willingly endure that much pain, but he knew it was the right thing to do; the only right thing.

*#*#*#*

It took Hakyeon all of his willpower to walk the short distance to Taekwoon's house the next couple of days. He had to help with the wedding preparations, even though he'd rather gouge his eyes out than see Taekwoon staring forlornly at Elaphe whenever she was in sight, and pierce his eardrums for good measure than have to hear her obnoxious laughter.

His heart bled whenever he found the time to spend a few minutes alone with Taekwoon, his glazed eyes spooking him at the same time as his hollow smile urged him to encase the younger in his arms and hold him close and safe for all eternity. It wasn't his place to do that, he had to remind himself, but the one whose place it should be apparently didn't care to fill it.

The wedding came closer and closer, and eventually Elaphe decided on which robe she wanted to wear on the day she would become Taekwoon's. Hakyeon didn't expect her to be helpful and inform him so he could coordinate Taekwoon's robes to match hers, since she seemed to have made it her personal goal to lay stones in Hakyeon's way wherever she could.

Hakyeon sat on the terrace in front of Taekwoon's rooms, feigning interest as he watched Taekwoon distractedly draw heart shapes into the dirt at his feet; or were it apples? Broken hearts? He gave up trying to decipher what shapes it were his friend was drawing, instead focusing on the guest rooms again. He was waiting until the bride's entourage left the rooms, just so he could sneak in and catch a glance of the dress.

Eventually, the time came, and he left Taekwoon. He doubted the younger even noticed him leaving, but he was reaching a point where telling himself it was all the same to him actually worked.

 

No one saw him when he sneaked into the guests rooms, and he quickly located the room Elaphe had been assigned. Her dress hung on the wardrobe, impossible to miss, and Hakyeon couldn't help but flinch at the monstrosity it was. How was he supposed to find anything for Taekwoon that matched that?! He couldn't do that to him; not even to his worst enemy, never mind his best friend!

Suddenly, he could hear steps in the hallway, and they were coming closer. He wasn't necessarily doing anything forbidden, but still he didn't want to get caught. Hastily, he rushed to the long curtains in the corner, hiding behind them. He brushed the dresser that stood in the way, but for once luck was on his side and a door slammed shut close by in the exact moment one of the many perfume flasks tumbled to the floor. He didn't have the time to place it back on the dresser, though, as the steps had stopped and the door opened.

Elaphe's sister came rushing in, and for a second Hakyeon feared he'd been found out as she walked straight up to him. It turned out that she was walking up to the dresser, though, picking up a purse from the corresponding chair. Just as Hakyeon was about to exhale in relief, she froze. Slowly, with a deep frown, she bent down and picked up the flask that had fallen to the floor. She clutched it tightly, looking around the room suspiciously for a moment, before her name was called from the other end of the hallway. She unfroze, setting the flask down on the dresser carelessly and rushed out of the room.

Despite the room being clear now, Hakyeon couldn't breathe. The bottle the girl had been clutching... It had the same shape as the forms Taekwoon had been drawing! A heart-shape, lined with chiselled silver decorations, and a rest of a glowing red liquid sloshing at the bottom.

It didn't take a genius to realize it must be the vial of a love potion, and if the potion had been given to Taekwoon, that explained all of his weird behaviour lately!

Hakyeon's heart was hammering as he ran out of the room. He had to find someone, someone of Taekwoon's family, and inform them. He rushed through the hallways, knocking on doors left and right but only finding empty rooms. He checked the backyard, the terrace, the balcony - until a voice stopped him.

"Cha Hakyeon!"

Hakyeon froze, turning around slowly to find Elaphe walking towards him, a smile on her face that was probably meant to be sweet but that reminded him of a viper.

“I’ve been looking for you, since you are helping with the wedding preparations…” She drawled as she came closer, and Hakyeon fought the urge to step back and away from her as she approached.

“You probably want to know what dress I chose so you can coordinate Taekwoon’s clothes with it…” she stopped right in front of Hakyeon, and her smile disappeared suddenly, at the same time as white hot pain shot through Hakyeon’s chest, making breathing almost impossible.

“You should have asked instead of snooping into my room and sniffing around where you weren’t called for! What a shame that that will be the last thing you’ll have done in your life…!”

She twisted the object she’d stabbed between Hakyeon’s ribs and pain threatened to consume him as he struggled to breathe around the cold metal piercing his lungs.

He didn’t know where it came from, but a sudden burst of strength revived him before his knees could give in under him and he pulled the decorative dagger he’d meant to polish before the wedding out of his robes, slashing at Elaphe’s neck.

Surprised, she stumbled back, pulling the knife from in between Hakyeon’s ribs as she rose her hands to clutch at her neck to stop the sudden flow of blood.

“I’d rather… The last thing I do… Is save my friend from… Getting married to a snake.”

He’d also rather had it if the last thing he saw before his vision blurred as he fought for his last breaths wasn’t someone who murdered him and made him a murderer in turn, but few things in life and death were ever like one wished for them to be.

*#*#*#*

Taekwoon had been on the way to the library, where his father waited for him, when the emptiness inside him felt like it exploded, consuming his whole being. He cried out in pain as his legs gave out under him, but the blind agony lifted him back to his feet quickly, guiding his steps through the house and onto the balcony before he knew he was moving again.

The sight he was greeted with was a grizzly one, and he sank to the floor as quiet sobs wracked his body. Even in death and lying in their blood, the stares Hakyeon and Elaphe directed at each other were of burning hate.

He didn’t know how long he sat there, staring at the cooling bodies before the pain slashing at his soul became too much and fought its way out of him. It were no longer his own words that he sang, but rather the words of his tortured soul. They carried further than any of his singing ever had before, and every living soul who heard them rested their work and cried with him. Even the wind, or so it was said, wept in sympathy of his grief, carrying the melody of his tragedy far, far away, beyond any mortal realm and to the golden temples of Mount Olympus.

Even the goddess Aphrodite shed a tear as the sorrowful notes reached her and she peeked into the mortal realm, just before another goddess came bursting into her temple.

“What have you done?!” The newcomer demanded to know, visibly upset, but Aphrodite couldn’t give her the answer she wanted.

“I haven’t done anything. That potion didn’t come from me. I’d never allow one of my potions to be used on someone who found their soulmate.”

The other goddess, Psyche, deflated as she sank into the grass next to Aphrodite, covering her ears in an attempt to block the soul wrenching words out.

“His pain is too great.”

Aphrodite nodded slowly.

“And his love is still confused, even after they both died… That potion wasn’t right.”

Psyche gave up trying to block any sounds.

“Someone of our kind messed with it. And if someone of our kind messed with it, someone else of our kind should set it right. I can’t stand to see two soulmates separated by vengeful death!”

Aphrodite cocked her head as she looked at the other goddess.

“What is on your mind?”

“He should get a chance to retrieve his one true love from the underworld. Hades is mellow these days as he is missing his wife…”

Aphrodite scoffed.

“You won’t be able to convince Hades to let the human’s love go just like that.”

Psyche nodded, knowing that just too well.

“Not just like that… But he owes you a favour. And you owe me…”

Aphrodite scowled.

“Two favours for a human? I get that he’s found his soulmate, but isn’t two favours a bit too much?”

Psyche shrugged.

“Either that, or he’s going to take hundreds of humans with him when he eventually dies of a broken heart… And broken hearts can’t be reborn.”

Aphrodite shook her head as if to shake off an annoying fly.

“What do you suggest we do, then?”

*#*#*#*

Aphrodite shivered despite being unable to feel the cold of the underworld as she approached Hades’ throne.

“Uncle?” Aphrodite ventured as the King of the Underworld didn’t show any signs that he’d noticed her presence.

“What do you want?” came the gruff answer from the shadows.

“Ah, there you are. I have a request.”

“I’m not in the mood.”

“I figured. That’s why I also have a message from your wife.”

The older god materialized before her, glaring threateningly at the goddess of love, but she didn’t back up.

“You know I had nothing to do with you falling in love with the wrong mother’s daughter. But maybe your love for her will make you understand why I’m asking you the favour I am about to ask.”

Pain flashed in the dark god’s eyes at the mention of his wife before he masked it carefully.

“Talk.”

“I need you to return a human to the world of the living.”

Hades rolled his eyes before sitting down on his throne with a bored expression.

“You always need me to do that.”

“It’s another human’s soulmate, taken from him by murder.”

Hades shook his head.

“There are loads of those.”

“This one is different. The surviving soulmate must have been gifted by one of our kind. His singing… When his heart breaks, those of hundreds of others will break with his.”

The god of the underworld lifted his head, furrowing his brow. Broken hearted souls were messy, they stayed forever, neither in Tartarus nor in Elysium, never reincarnating and portraying a kind of suffering he really couldn’t stand. He didn’t need hundreds of broken hearted souls in his realm any time soon. But was that human really that powerful…?

Aphrodite knew she’d gotten the other god’s attention, but that he was sceptical.

“Come to the border and hear for yourself.”

Hades narrowed his eyes at her.

“What about the message from my wife?”

Aphrodite shrugged.

“A favour for a favour… Come and listen to the human singing, and I’ll hand you Persephone’s message.”

Before she could so much as blink, Hades had transported them to the border of his realm, right where the human realm began. He was just about to ask what about the human’s singing, when the wind turned and the sorrowful voice of Taekwoon’s anguished soul touched his own.

The old god gasped. The words were so full of love and longing, of pain and despair, he couldn’t fathom how a human soul could be capable of such emotion. They touched his own heart, stirring awake the intense longing and love he had for his wife, refreshing the pain of not being able to see her for way too long when she had to stay with her mother… And those were only a couple of months; the human was singing of a love lost forever. If he lost Persephone forever… He couldn’t stand the thought, and as quick as he’d transported them to the border, he flashed them back to his palace.

“Enough. I will let the human’s love go, but he’ll have to come and get them himself. I don’t want to hear him; just one trip, find his beloved, and then they leave. He can’t turn back around, ever, or they will both be damned forever.”

Aphrodite nodded, keeping her triumphant smile hidden.

“Now, where is Seph’s message?”

Aphrodite reached into her peplos calmly, taking out the message from the Queen of the Underworld for her husband. Hades couldn’t get it fast enough, but once he held the small envelope in his hands, he looked at it just as love-struck as any mortal Aphrodite had ever seen. He didn’t notice her leaving anymore, too focused on his own love’s words.

*#*#*#*

It was Psyche who took it upon herself to inform Taekwoon of the deal the gods had made to return his beloved to him. The closer she got to him, the more her heart ached from his singing. When she reached him, she was appalled at what she found.

For three days and nights, the grieving man hadn’t moved from his spot. It were the deaf elderly who’d prepared the funerals for the two dead, but even their souls could still hear the meaning of his words and wept with him.

The goddess of souls shook her head at the mere shell of a human she found, his soul close to dying in the battered body. Once a human herself, she didn’t have the same qualms to touch humans as other gods, and she knelt before him, lifting his face in her hands and calling out to his soul.

“Taekwoon. Halt your cries, for not everything is lost. You can return your love to the living!”

Taekwoon choked on his singing, and the words died on his tongue.

He blinked at the ethereal form in front of him, recognizing her as the goddess she was and swallowing his claim that she was lying.

“You have permission to descend to the Underworld and reclaim your one true love. Lead them out of the depths of Tartarus and into the light again so you can live together until your due time comes. But be warned, you can never turn around, never look back, or the both of you will never see the light of the human realm ever again!”

Taekwoon couldn’t believe what he was hearing, it was too good to be true, but then the goddess stood back up.

“Don’t waste your time, Taekwoon. Go, before Hades changes his mind.”

Those words returned the life to Taekwoon’s drained body, and for the first time in days he got up from his spot on the cold stones of the balcony’s floor.

As fast as he could he gathered the absolute necessary and set out to return his love to the living.

He didn’t sing again on his journey, and after three days and nights of restless journey he reached the gates to the Underworld. Fearlessly, he entered the dark cave; everything he could have feared had already happened, it could only get better from there on.

Still, a part of him had expected the goddess to be lying to him, and he wasn’t just mildly surprised when the terrifying Cerberus backed away, letting him pass instead of attacking him with all three heads at the same time.

Charon didn’t accept his obolus, either, granting him free passage over the Styx, and none of the creatures of darkness that resided in the depths of Tartarus, where his love had ended up in, came close to him.

With every step he took, his soul sang in joy, yet not a single sound made it past his lips. His soul’s mate was calling him, and he followed its calls deeper and deeper into the Underworld. Not once did he think about turning back around, not until he held his one true love in his arms.

He’d gotten so used to the shadows rushing out of his way when he passed, that when a shadow came towards him, he froze in shock. Slowly, it took form in front of him, until it could step out into the small light his torch provided.

“Taekwoon… You came to save me!” Elaphe’s voice was teary, and Taekwoon’s heart stilled. The whole way here he had known exactly what he was after, and now he had found it… But why did it feel wrong?

“My love… Why are you hesitating?”

That was a good question… why was he? He didn’t know. He couldn’t answer. And still, he hesitated for a while longer, before he managed to get his lips to cooperate.

“Follow me.”

*#*#*#*

“I can’t believe this!”

Aphrodite jumped at Psyche’s cry as the younger goddess stormed into her temple.

“What is wrong?”

The goddess of souls dropped into the grass next to her, glaring at nothing in particular.

“Whatever that potion is… Whoever made that… By Styx, they deserve eternal damnation in the lowest pit of Tartarus!”

Aphrodite raised an eyebrow at her daughter-in-law’s cursing, and she huffed.

“The woman… She tricked him! He’s leading her out of Tartarus, condemning his soulmate to eternal damnation!”

The goddess of love gasped.

“What?! The potion is still working? How?!”

Psyche huffed.

“If I only knew! All I need to know is how to stop it and keep that human from running head-first into his misery… if he isn’t doing that already!”

Aphrodite nodded, pensively.

“He needs to see the truth… That’s it! Aletheia!”

As soon as the name left her lips, a third goddess materialized before them, frowning.

“Aphrodite… Psyche… You could have warned me before summoning me out of nowhere. What is going on?”

“Ah, pardon us… We have a bit of a problem… A human is under the spell of an unknown love potion, and currently rescuing the wrong person from Tartarus…”

The goddess of truth frowned.

“Out of… Tartarus? A human? What have you been up to?!”

Aphrodite waved her hand dismissively, summing up the events of the past week in a few words, all the while shaking her head disapprovingly.

“This is why we shouldn’t meddle with the humans’ lives. One small mistake can turn into a huge disaster, and before anyone moves to clean up the mess we lose years trying to figure out who is going to call in favours from whom to get it all done.” She shook her head again, fading out of the meadow of Aphrodite’s temple. Before either of the two remaining goddesses could react, she was already back, though.

She handed Psyche, who sat closest to her, two small vials.

“This is water from the river Lethe. Get your human to drink from it, and the spell of any potion will vanish.”

Aphrodite frowned.

“He will also forget everything else, though…”

“Not everything!” Psyche interjected. “He will remember his soul-mate…”

Aletheia nodded.

“Yes. And for him to remember everything he needs to, there is this second vial, with water from the Mnemosyne. Just make sure he drinks both, and Lethe’s first.

Aphrodite’s eyes lit up, a smile following.

“That makes sense… Aletheia, dearest, we owe you!”

The goddess of truth rolled her eyes.

“And here we go again, with the meddling and who owes who favours…” She vanished, leaving mother and daughter-in-law alone once again.

A nod at each other and they transported to the underworld, right as Taekwoon and Elaphe were about to board Charon’s ferry over the Styx. Disguised and invisible to the mortal man, they approached him, and in an unsuspecting moment, Aphrodite threw the waters of Lethe into his face.

Surprised, Taekwoon spluttered, but then he swallowed some of the water… confusing flashed in his eyes, but a second later a deeply imbedded tenseness seeped out of him. Quickly, Psyche followed and sprayed the waters of remembrance into his face, too.

Indignant, Taekwoon wiped at his face, quickly getting tired of being showered with water out of nowhere, but a few drops still managed to roll past his lips, into his mouth.

The confusion returned, and so did the tenseness. Before anyone could react, Taekwoon turned around, hate blazing in his eyes as he approached a confused Elaphe.

“What are you doing?! You are damning us bo-“ her words ended in a scream as Taekwoon shoved her out of the way and she stumbled, falling into the river Styx. The murky waters were unrelenting, and she sank into oblivion quickly, but not faster than Taekwoon had forgotten all about her as he headed back into the depths of the underworld.

He needed to find Hakyeon! How could he have thought for one second… of course it would be Hakyeon his soul was calling out to! He quickened his steps until he was running, tracing back the way he’d just come from. The calls from Hakyeon’s soul grew louder and louder, but this time the shadows didn’t back out of his way. Still, Taekwoon ran through them, sure he unbalanced a couple of the creatures lurking in the shadows that made the mistake of not moving out of his way but not caring as he closed the distance between himself and Hakyeon.

He skidded to a halt when he rounded the final corner finding himself in a dark room where someone sat chained up in the far corner.

“Hakyeon!” Taekwoon called out, not needing to see his face to know it was him. Throwing even the last bit of care he could have had away, he crossed the room and enveloped the man in his arms.

Hakyeon’s arms came around him slowly, weighed down by the chains holding him.

“Taekwoon… You came back…” He rested his head against his shoulder, holding on to Taekwoon as tight as he could, but then balled his hands in his clothes.

“Why, you fool! You can’t! You will be damned to this place forever! You shouldn’t- You need to run, before anyone knows you turned around!”

Taekwoon shook his head.

“I’m not going anywhere. Not without you.”

Tears appeared in Hakyeon’s eyes, but he shook his head.

“You can’t stay, Taekwoon. This isn’t a place for you!”

“If you are here, then it is also my place. But… Why are you here?”

Hakyeon shrugged.

“I’m a murderer. I deserve to be here.”

Taekwoon shook his head.

“No… You’re not.”

“I killed your fiancé.”

“And she killed you!”

“It doesn’t change that I killed her.”

Taekwoon shook his head again, denial running hot through his veins.

“You wouldn’t have killed her without a reason! A good one! Why did you kill her?”

Hakyeon shrugged.

“I don’t know. I don’t remember. I don’t remember anything, except you…”

“And that you killed that-…” he was unable to find a word strong enough to describe his hate for her.

Hakyeon shrugged again.

“They won’t let me forget that.”

Taekwoon held Hakyeon closer.

“But they won’t let you remember the reason?”

“It doesn’t change anything.”

Taekwoon stayed silent for a moment.

“You are right. It doesn’t. I don’t care why you killed her. It doesn’t matter to me. She’s gone, the past, all that matters is that I found you.”

“And then what, little human?”

A voice interrupted them, so cold their breath froze in the air in front of them. Hakyeon cowered, but Taekwoon turned around to stand in front of Hakyeon.

“And then I’m going to take my soulmate back to the realm of the living.” He answered defiantly.

The King of the Underworld appeared in front of him, an eerie glow around him that wasn’t light but allowed him to be seen.

“I don’t think so. You broke the deal. No turning back, remember?”

“I hadn’t found my soulmate yet, though.” Taekwoon answered confidently, but Hades chuckled.

“No one ever said anything about your soulmate. The deal was your one true love. You chose Elaphe.”

Taekwoon’s confidence vaned.

“She wasn’t my true love. She tricked me with a potion!”

“That doesn’t change that you chose her and were well on your way out, and then. Turned. Back. Around.”

Dread nibbled on Taekwoon’s heels, but he stood his ground.

“I will not leave without Hakyeon. He is the one I came for.”

Hades sighed, getting bored.

“And yet you can’t stay here, either. A dilemma, don’t you think?”

“I’m not leaving.”

The god of the dead narrowed his eyes on him, slowly but surely losing his patience.

“And who do you think you are to make that decision, all by yourself?”

“I don’t need to be anyone but myself to make that decision.”

Taekwoon knew he was playing with fire, but he also knew Hades couldn’t kill or torture him for no reason, and that gave him enough confidence to stand his ground. It evaporated into nothing when Hakyeon cried out behind him, and he realized that Hades could very well hurt him by hurting Hakyeon, which he had all the rights to. Panic overwhelmed him when Hakyeon cried out again, and he was ready to beg the god of the underworld to stop whatever he was doing to Hakyeon, promising whatever he wanted from him in turn, when a voice from the doorway silenced him.

“Seph would be pretty disappointed if she knew about this, don’t you think?”

Aphrodite was leaning casually against one side of the doorframe, Psyche resting against the other side, inspecting her nails as she hummed in agreement.

“Torturing one lover to hurt the other one… Where have I seen that before?”

Aphrodite tapped her chin pensively as she pretended to think over Psyche’s question.

“It reminds me of something else, but similar…”

Psyche faked perking up.

“Oh! You mean that one couple, where the wife’s mother keeps her daughter in her realm for most of the year to hurt her son in law?”

Hades growled lowly in his throat, each of the goddesses’ words hitting home.

“What do you want here?”

“Just making sure you treat the humans right. You aren’t breaking your promises, are you?”

Hades snorted.

“It’s not me who’s breaking the rules. I didn’t tell him to turn around and come back. And he can’t stay here. He isn’t dead.”

“And you can’t let the other go?”

The god of the underworld huffed.

“I already lost one soul because of them today. I won’t lose another. Besides, he’s a murderer.”

Artemis rolled her eyes.

“So was the girl, and yet you were ready to let her go. And she was the first to approach the soulmates with ill intentions. She struck a deadly blow first. The soulmate would probably never have struck her if she hadn’t struck first.”

“It’s irrelevant.”

Psyche shook her head at the back and forth.

“Is it, though? Should we call for a weighing of the keres to see if it really is?”

The older god glared at the two goddesses, but they didn’t budge. Eventually, Hades backed down.

“Whatever. Even if his murder can be excused, he can’t leave. He drank from the waters of Lethe already. He can only be reborn.”

Aphrodite rolled her eyes.

“By Styx, are you a god or not?! Imagine if this wasn’t two mortals but you and Persephone; would you give up without a fight? Aren’t you fighting Demeter every step of the way for keeping Seph away from you? Why would you want to needlessly inflict the fate that is ruining you on anyone else?”

Hades gasped, and something like vulnerability flickered in his eyes.

“Damn you, woman. Damn you.”

The chains holding Hakyeon evaporated, and before he or Taekwoon knew what was going on the dark room vanished and they stood in the middle of a sun-lit field, a warm wind tousling their hair and pulling at their clothes.

Wary, they stepped closer to each other, their hands finding each other and holding on tightly as they tried to understand where they were. Hakyeon’s grip tightened significantly when he saw the smaller goddess, Psyche, walk up to them.

“Fret not. This is Elysium, and here you shall stay from now on until you are ready to reincarnate… Hades came to his senses, he won’t interfere with you again. Rest well, my beautiful souls.” With those words, she vanished, leaving the soulmates behind.

An incredulous laugh bubbled out of Hakyeon, making Taekwoon turn around to look at him curiously.

“I won’t reincarnate. I’ll never be ready without you.”

Taekwoon frowned, not understanding what Hakyeon was getting at, but the older smoothed the lines on his forehead.

“And you can’t reincarnate; you aren’t dead, and you can’t die in Elysium.”

Understanding overcame Taekwoon and a smile curved his lips, for the first time in ages. It stayed even when Hakyeon’s lips found his own, both of them letting all their emotions flow into the resulting kiss.

They couldn’t quite comprehend yet what they had just learned; Elysium was theirs, for eternity.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Orpheus' story in short for those who aren't too well versed in greek mythology: Orpheus was a greek guy who sang so beautifully he moved even the stones and trees with the emotions in his songs. He had a wife he loved above everything else, but she got bitten by a poisonous snake and died. He followed her to the underworld and sang to Hades and Persephone, begging them to return his wife to him, and managed to make the dead souls cry with his song. They allowed her to go with him, but he could never look back to make sure she was following him until they were in the mortal realm or he would lose her. He was too anxious though and looked back. She was following him, but as soon as he looked she fell back into the underworld. He followed her down again and begged and sang for Hades to release her again, but Hades didn't give in a second time. He never saw her again. 
> 
> \----  
> Cross posting this from asianfanfics.com. If you liked this story enough to think I deserve it and you can afford it, I've recently created a kofi account in hopes of one or another coffee-tip coming my way to help my etenernal broke-ness at ko-fi.com/diamondwings. Every little bit would help make my entire summer, since it's the only way for me to earn anything until the end of August.


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